Bier



June 5, 1962 R. L. Rupp 3,037,648

BIER

Filed July 27, 1959 2 Sheets-'Sheet 2 INVENTOR Richard L. Rupp AT'roRNEYs I United States Patent O Filed July 27, 1959, Ser. No. 829,657 3 Claims. (Cl. 214-84) The present invention relates to bier and is a continuation-in-part of my prior similarly entitled application filed November 24, 1958, Serial No. 776,018, now abandoned.

The invention has for an object to provide a new and novel unit which permits of being 'wheeled to any door while the casket still remains on the bier whereby at narrow doors the pallbearers may stand on the outside and after a novel form of latch is released the casket will roll into the hands of the pallbearers on the outside of the residence or other building.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bier which may be rolled valong the fioor of a mortuary or undertaker's chapel or building or through the aisle of a church lwhile the casket reposes on a roller bed forming the top portion of the bier with one at least of the rollers locked against rotation, all of 'which permits the casket with great facility to be moved about without the aid of pallbearers and singly by the undertaker or his assistant: And then when 1the casket is to be taken up or down steps requiring carrying by the pallbearers, the roller may be released 'from its locked condition and the casket may be readily rolled off the roller bed into the hands of the pallbearers which are positioned at the end of the bier.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bier which may be wheeled up to a hearse with the casket thereon and when released the casket Imay be rolled from the bier directly into the casket rack in the hearse.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be more fully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings, -wherein like symbols refer to like or corresponding parts throughout the several views:

FIGURE 1 is a top isometric view of a bier construc-ted in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a bottom isometric view of the same.

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the bier.

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

FIGU'RE 5 is a transverse sectional view through the high roller taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 6 is a cross section taken on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 5.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, l10 designates a wheeled platform, 11 a casket roller bed and 12 a center support between the platform 10 and the bed 11 with end supports 13 and 14 arranged transversely at the end portions between the platform and bed.

The wheeled platform 10, in one form thereof comprises generally a substantially horizontal base board 15 and side and end boards 16 and 17 respectively which are secured to the sides and ends of the base board 15 and depend therefrom so that they conceal the 'side and end frame studs 18 and 19 which are secu-red to the lower portion of the base board 15 and also preferably to the side and end boards 16 and 17.

The plat-form dt) is mounted upon Wheels or casters 20 carried in wheel mounts 21 affixed to the studding 13 and 19 or to other parts of the platform 10, preferably so that the wheel mounts 21 and the major portions of the wheels 20 are both concealed by the side and end boards 16 and 17 which latter exteriorly may be given a decorative appearance.

In one form the casket roller bed 11 may consist of a substantially horizontal bed board 23 having side and end Patented June 5, 1962 ICC valance boards 24 and 25 secured to the bed board 23 and depending therefrom so as to conceal the internal side and end frame studs 26 and 27. This studding may supply the strength of the roller bed 11 and may be secured beneath the bed board 23 and to the internal surfaces of the side and end valance boards 24 and 25.

Metal or other roller -frames 28 are mounted in the bed board 23, rotatably supporting rollers 29 which occupy slots 39 in the bed board 23. Portions of the rollers 29 project upwardly above the upper surface of the bed board 23 to directly receive and support the casket shown in broken lines in FIGURE 3.

The rollers 29 may be conveniently composed of metal or other bodies 33 about 'which are secured rubber or other resilient coverings 34-.

Trunnions 36 of the rollers rotate in bearings of the frames 28 as appears in FIGURE 5. As shown in FIG- URES 5 and 6 a number of sockets 39 in the high roller 29 open out on an end of the roller and are distributed circularly about the axis of the roller, the same being ofiset from such axis. These sockets 39 are adapted to selectively receive therein a pin 41 introduced through a perforation or perforations 40 in the framework, for instance in the parts 24-, 26. At its outer end the pin 4d is provided with a knob '42 for convenience in manual grasping for withdrawing and inserting the pin which is preferably held captive loosely by a chain 60 attached to a part of the bier.

The center support comprises a lower rail 43, an upper rail 44, end uprights 45 and columns 46 erected between the lower and upper rails 43 and 44 which columns may be hollow metal cylinders or pipes. Such hollow bodies have great supporting strength.

The end supports are each composed of a lower rail 47, an upper rail 48, end uprights 49 and columns 50 which may resemble the columns 46. The lengthwise disposition of the center support 12 yand the transverse disposition of the end supports 13 and 14 is such as not only to adequately support the weight of caskets but also to resist all lateral or endwise strains that may be put upon the upper roller bed 11.

The structure is such that it may externally be given a suitable decor in keeping With the solemnity of funerals.

In the use of the device, the bier cannot only be used for the display in the funeral parlor but with the casket thereon it may be pushed from the room without the use of pallbearers.

It will also be understood by those skilled in the art that the bier is so construeted that the casket may be removed from the funeral home through a narrow door which many times detracts from the sanctity of a funeral.

The use of rubber rollers 29 makes the removal of the casket from the bier quiet, convenient and with a minimum of effort. The simplicity of the casket setting of the bier is not marked by unsightly clamps and mechanical devices in view of the public. The rollers on top of the bier are locked from a simple pin from the rear which is easily operated, safe and out of view of the general public.

The roller 29 is the head or high roller and associated with it i-s the pin or detent device 41 which acts, in the inserted position of FIGURE 5, to lock this head roller against rotation. In the locked condition the head roller 29 prevents the casket from rolling. The head roller 29 is higher than the other three rollers 29a, 29b and 29c because the greater part of the weight of the casket is on the head end. This is also the reason why the head roller is shown to be set in from the adjacent end of the bier a greater distance than that of the foot roller 29 from the foot end. A satisfactory arrangement 'has been to locate the high roller 29 an approximate distance of six inches inwardly from the head end and to locate the foot roller 29 substantially one and one-half inches inwardly of the foot end of the bier.

The high roller 29 on the head end has preferably four sockets 39 so that the casket will only have to be moved a minimum to bring a socket into alignment with perforation 40 for insertion of the pin 41 to effect locking of the roller 29 and the casket against movement.

The head roller is elevated approximately three-eighths of an inch above the horizontal plane of the peripheries of the companion rollers 29, 29b and 29, although this dimension is not critical. It sufiices if the head roller 29 is higher than the remaining rollers or, in other words, is raised higher above the plane of the roller platform 11. With this construction when a flat bottom casket is on the bier, as indicated in FIGURE 3, it rests only on the head roller 29 and the roller 29 at the foot of the bier.

There is a distance of approximately five feet from the head roller 29 to the foot roller 29 and the inclination of three-eighths of an inch is not sufficient for the casket to roll even when the head roller 29 is unlocked. Since the casket rests only upon the two rollers there is sufficient weight or center of gravity which holds the casket much better than when it is lying on four rollers all in the one plane and having only one lock. When all rollers are on the same level and only one locked, there is ordinarily insuflicient locking to prevent the casket from rolling.

Hence when the casket is in the position of FIGURE 3 it is supported only by the two rollers 29 and 29 and the bottom of the casket is above the peripheries of the intermediate rollers 29a and 29. These latter intermediate rollers 29a and 29b are utilized only in putting a casket on and removing it from the bier. When a casket is removed from the bier it moves a distance of the order of two feet rearwardly until it drops off the head roller 29 and on to the other three rollers which are all of the same height. If the center rollers 29a and 29b were not present the pallbearers would have to support the weight of the casket the rest of the way olf the bier. In putting a casket on the bier it is rolled to the head roller 29 and merely lifted three-eighths of an inch upon the same. If this were not so, the casket would have to be lifted all the way across the bier as the only means of setting it on the bier. The increase in height of the head roller 29 may be accomplished in a number of ways, for instance, it may be of the same diameter as the Companion rollers but set somewhat higher in its mounting; or the head roller 29 may be of a diameter greater than that of the Companion rollers.

The rollers or casters 20 on the base frame are useful for transporting the bier from one place to another in the funeral home. The bier may be pushed on these rollers 20 through a narrow door without the aid of pallbearers and the casket may then be transported from the bier to a hearse with a minimum effort.

Although I have disclosed herein the best form of the invention known to me at this time, I reserve the right to all such modifications and changes as may come within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. For use in a new technique in undertaker practice by which, after the body in the open casket has been supported on a bier for viewing purposes, wholly by a one-man operation without the aid of pallbearers the bier with closed casket may be wheeled to a hearse and the casket transferred from the bier directly to the hearse, a novel bier comprising a platform, floor-engaging wheels on which the platform is supported for rolling movement, a roller bed having head and foot ends and intermediate parts therebetween, supports on the platform for receiving and supporting the roller bed, intermediate and foot rollers rotatably supported transversely from the bed at the intermediate and foot parts thereof and having uppermost portions lying in a common horizontal plane spaced above the bed, a head roller rotatably supported transversely from the bed at the head end thereof and having its uppermost portion spaced above said common horizontal plane for receiving the head end portion of the casket and cooperating with the foot roller to wholly support between them the casket in the rest position thereof on the bier in which the bottom of the casket is spaced above the intermediate rollers and receives no support therefrom during the viewing period and transferring operation and in which the casket is supported at a declination from head to foot with a gravitatonal tendency to roll with the foot end leading and the head end trailing, detachable rotation arresting means between the bed and at least one of the rollers supporting the casket in the rest position for preventing movement of the casket in such position, said bier being open from end to end to permit the operator, after rolling the same to the hearse and alining the foot end of the bed with the hearse casket-receiving rack, and after detaching the rotation arresting means, to lay at least one hand on the casket to push the casket from the head end toward the hearse during which movement the head end of the casket drops off the head roller onto the intermediate rollers whereupon the casket assumes a more nearly horizontal position in substantial registration with the hearse casket rack.

2. A novel bier as claimed in claim l in which the roller platform is also open from side to side to permit the operator to walk along the side of the bier keeping a hand on the casket and applying pushing pressure where needed as the latter moves from the bier completely into the hearse rack.

3. A novel bier as claimed in claim 1 in which said detachable rotation arresting means in applied position is located wholly below the uppermost portions of the rollers and is oriented for application and detachment in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of the roller to which applied.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 87,570 Joyce Mar. 9, 1869 653,942 Willis et al. July 17, 1900 1,573,398 Griffith Feb. 16, 1926 1,953,900 Wolters Apr. 3, 1934 2,584,240 Stewart Feb. 5, 1952 2,674,102 Stile Apr. 6, 1954 2,805,786 Green Sept. 10, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 897 Great Britain Nov. 16, 1901 1,064,9l0 Germany Sept. 10, 1959 

